page_title: Republic of Yemen Armed Forces
section_title: 2011 Yemeni Revolution
hierarchical_section_title: Republic of Yemen Armed Forces / History / 2011 Yemeni Revolution
caption_attribution_description: English: Yemeni soldiers from the 1st Armoured Division in 60st. , sanaa 22may 2011العربية: جنود يمنيون من الفرقة الأولى مدرع في شارع الستين بصنعاء اثناء احتفال اقامة شباب الثورة بمناسبة عيد الوحدة اليمنية 22 مايو 2011
context_page_description: The Armed Forces of Yemen includes the Yemen Army, Navy, 1st Armored Division, and the Yemeni Air Force. A major reorganization of the armed forces continues. The unified air forces and air defenses are now under one command. The navy is concentrated in Aden. The Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen joined to form the Republic of Yemen on May 22, 1990.
  The supreme commander of the armed forces is Field Marshal Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, the internationally recognized President of Yemen as well as Mahdi al-Mashat, the President of the Supreme Political Council.
  The number of military personnel in Yemen is relatively high; in sum, Yemen has the second largest military force on the Arabian Peninsula after Saudi Arabia. In 2012, total active troops were estimated as follows: army, 66,700; navy, 7,000; and air force, 5,000. In September 2007, the government announced the reinstatement of compulsory military service. Yemen's defense budget, which in 2006 represented approximately 40 percent of the total government budget, is expected to remain high for the near term, as the military draft takes effect and internal security threats continue to escalate.
context_section_description: In March 2011, a month after the beginning of an uprising against President Saleh's rule, Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, the commander of the 1st Armoured Division, defected to the side of the protesters taking hundreds of troops and several tanks to protect protesting citizens. Rival tanks of the 1st Armoured Division and the Republican Guard faced off against each other in Sann'a.
  The Yemeni Army's 119th Brigade, which had defected to the opposition, launched a joint operation with 31st and 201st Brigades which were still loyal to Saleh and retook the city of Zanjibar on 10 September from Islamist militants who were exploiting the chaos in the country to expand their influence. The offensive relieved  besieged army units in the process.
  On 17 September, at least one rebel soldier was killed in clashes with loyalists in Sanaʽa near the city's central square, trying to protect the protest camp there from security forces. After anti-government tribesmen overran a loyalist army base north of Sanaʽa on 20 September, capturing 30 soldiers, the government responded with airstrikes killing up to 80 civilians.
caption: Yemeni soldiers from the 1st Armoured Division on 60th Street in Sana'a, 22 May 2011
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